Chapter 5

Alex turned to look at me in horror.

"How, how did you do that?!"

"Kneel," I commanded.

Having witnessed what I was capable of, Alex didn't dare refuse, but he didn't want to lose face in front of his lackeys either.

"Alice, don't push me!"

"Push you? What are you going to do about it?" I yanked Alex's collar tight from behind. Alex immediately started gasping for breath.

Seeing the killing intent in my eyes, he finally realized I really would take his life.

"I'll kneel, I'll kneel!"

I let go, and Alex immediately dropped to his knees.

I was basically training a dog.

"Turn around and face me while you kneel."

"Don't bully your classmates anymore, understand?"

"Understand." Alex kept his head down, unwilling to accept it.

Not convinced?

Then I'd use force to make him submit.

I stepped on Alex's hand that was supporting him on the ground. With my body weight, I didn't need to press down too hard to make Alex suffer.

He let out a heart-wrenching cry of pain. "Didn't I already apologize? Alice, what more do you want?"

"I don't like your attitude."

"Alice, please!" Alex whimpered.

"Apologize to your classmate."

I moved my foot away. Alex got up and looked at John, who had just stood up. "I'm sorry."

John clenched his fist and then released it. "Whatever."

It wasn't that he didn't want to hold a grudge—he knew he didn't have the capital to hold one against Alex.

Alex turned and left quickly, muttering about his bad luck.

John looked up at me. "Thanks."

I didn't say much and was about to walk past John when he suddenly stepped back, putting distance between us, all serious. "Alice, even though you helped me, I still won't accept your confession. I don't like you."

"Besides... I like someone else." John pressed his lips together. "Hey, if I tell you this, can you understand what I mean?"

I glanced at John indifferently. He was good-looking, sure, but due to poor nutrition, he was quite thin. Honestly, this kind of man with no sense of strength at all...

"I don't like you either," I answered.

John looked surprised, raising his eyes to look at me.

"I know you like Sophia."

I smiled. "Terrible taste."

Leaving those words behind, I brushed past John.

Before afternoon class, I was called to the homeroom teacher's office.

I met Alice's biological father for the first time—Robert Baker.

I remembered he was supposed to be on a business trip these days. The only one who could suddenly summon him to school was Alex.

That little brat tattled again.

And brought another useless reinforcement.

"Alice!"

Robert's face looked terrible. "Haven't you caused enough trouble? Your brother was wrong first, but were you trying to kill him? You almost broke his hand! With your build, don't you know your own strength?"

"Not enough." I shook my head.

Robert hadn't expected such a rebellious answer from me. His face twisted with anger.

I calmly pulled over a chair and sat down. "I haven't finished settling accounts with him yet."

"But we can settle accounts first about what a failure you are as a father."

"What did you say?" Robert couldn't believe I was lecturing him and stood up directly in anger.

The homeroom teacher saw things going badly and quickly grabbed Robert's arm. "Mr. Baker, please calm down."

Robert shook off the teacher's hand and pointed at me. "Go ahead then."

"You failed to raise your son properly and let him bully classmates at school. As his sister, I'm helping you discipline your useless son. You should thank me."

"Furthermore, I'm your biological daughter. You ignore me completely. I was almost driven to death by your son—did you know that?"

I rolled up my sleeve, showing the cuts on my arm, too many to count.

"He also ordered his lackeys to trip me up in class, throw away my textbooks, stuff my desk full of garbage, pour red ink on my chair to make people think I didn't know how to handle my period, and it made the whole school laugh at me."

"Robert, this is your precious son."

Robert looked stunned.

Of course, he was shocked. After all, the old Alice didn't even know what tattling was. Only Alex had the advantage, going to Robert and giving him exaggerated reports about what embarrassing things Alice had done at school.

"Do you have proof?" Robert asked hesitantly.

Even now, he was afraid I was falsely accusing his precious son.

I laughed coldly and had the homeroom teacher call both David and Alex to the office for a confrontation.

"Tell the truth. What did Alex make you do?"

Alex shot David a warning look.

David swallowed hard.

He knew very clearly who would actually take his life.

He couldn't hold it together at all and directly spilled everything about how Alex gave him two hundred dollars a week to come up with different ways to mess with me and humiliate me.

Robert's face grew darker the more he heard.

Alex made a last-ditch effort. "Dad, don't listen to David's nonsense. David, he, he likes Alice, so he's lying to help her!"

Robert's response to Alex was a slap.

Alex hadn't expected that calling his father to school would backfire on him. He covered his face, stunned.

"Go home!" Robert grabbed Alex and dragged him out.

After they left, David looked at me nervously. "Alice, can I go now?"

"Get lost."

Sensing the homeroom teacher's inquiring gaze, I turned to meet it. The teacher looked surprised. "Alice, you... you seem smarter?"

Probably because my gaze was too intimidating.

The teacher tried to recover. "Uh, no, I didn't mean you were dumb before."

"If there's nothing else, I'm going back to class."

"Okay, sure."

...

After finishing the day's classes, I went home.

The servants said that after Robert brought Alex home, he was whipped more than a dozen times and was now lying in bed.

That punishment was barely adequate.

Emily came up to me as soon as I got home, concerned about my situation at school.

"Everything's fine. The classmates are all very friendly." I tried hard to imitate that childlike quality Alice unconsciously showed due to her low IQ.

After all, when it came to unfriendly classmates...

I had some idea how to deal with them.

"Babe, you must be tired after a day at school. Want to rest?"

"No, I want to go running."

I refused.

I changed into workout clothes and immediately set off for a run.

I didn't set any particular goal—I'd run until I felt tired.

Without realizing it, I ran out of the villa district. I chose a path that looked pleasant and kept running.

As the sky gradually darkened, when I ran past a patch of bushes, I caught a whiff of blood.

But what made me stop was that mixed with this bloody smell was the scent of a powerful aphrodisiac unique to BOC...

Perhaps hearing my footsteps, a man's cry for help came from the bushes. "Help... help me..."